Rotary printer feeder comprising oscillatable suction head and reciprocable pusher jaw



March 22, 1966 G. E. MARTELL ROTARY PRINTER FEEDER COMPRISINGOSCILLATABLE SUCTION HEAD AND RECIPROCABLE PUSHER JAW 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Sept.

mm wwm INVENTOR.

GEORGE E. MART LL ATTORNEYS March 22, 1966 G. E. MARTELL 3,241,487

ROTARY PRINTER FEEDER COMPRISING OSCILLATABLE SUCTION HEAD ANDRECIPROCABLE PUSHER JAW Filed Sept. 5, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllll ll I I I l l I l l l I l ll wON IN VEN TOR.

Mr R E E N Du 1 R M A E. E

E Am 3,241,487 E SUCTION March 22, 1966 G. E. MARTELL ROTARY PRINTERFEEDER COMPRISING OSCILLATABL HEAD AND RECIPROCABLE PUSHER JAW 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 5, 1963 Ill/I [III III] Rf f/ Rmw m Q MTJ V RWA MA. E u G 1 m EM 6 \Y 6 0; #11

ATTORNEYS 3,241,487 OTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 cs. E. MARTELL so I56 ,"x

HEAD AND REGIPROCABLE PUSHER JAW March 22, 1966 ROTARY PRINTER FEEDERCOMPRISING OSCILLATABLE SU Filed Sept. 5, 1963 u mm m 4 v E R E vw 9 G Ol E F M m 6 mm m F 8/ 5 a M m M; m 4. m\ 6 m N m ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,241,487 ROTARY PRINTER FEEDER COMPRISING OSCIL- LATABLE SUCTIONHEAD AND RECIPROCABLE PUSHER J AW George E. Martell, Rnnnernede, N.J.,assignor to Smith Kline & French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 305,947 2Claims. (Cl. 101-232) This invention relates to a printing machinesuitable for printing sheets, blanks or the like as they are required.

It is frequently desired to print such information such as names,instructions, codes and sizes on envelopes, leaflets, flat packing boxesand the like as they are being used in a particular operation such as,for example, a package assembly line. Whenever the printing isaccomplished ahead of time on a supply of such articles, extra handlingis required. Further, the printing in advance frequently results ineither over or short supplies with attendant waste or delay. Inaccordance with this invention, the printing of the articles is carriedout as the articles are used.

The invention and its objects will be made fully apparent from a readingof the following description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a printing machine in accordance withthe invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the printing machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the box blank printed by the machine ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a front perspective View of the box blank of FIGURE 3assembled into a box;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section taken on the plane indicated by theline 5-5 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical section partially broken away taken on the planeindicated by the line 6-6 in FIG- URE 5 FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectionpartially broken away taken on the plane indicated by the line 7-7 inFIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line8-8 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line9-9 in FIGURE 5; and FIGURE 10 is a vertical section partially brokenaway taken on the plane indicated by the line 10-10 in FIG- URE 9.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 1, a printing machine 2 is providedwith a frame 4 on which is mounted a stationary support 6 forming a pathfor a blank to be printed. A magazine 8 has a supporting frame 10mounted on support 6 and is provided with upstanding guide members 12.Stripper pins 14 secured to threaded members 16 which are threaded toframe 10 support the lowermost box blank 18 in magazine 8 along itsedges.

The blanks 18 are removed one at a time from magazine 8 by means ofsuction cups 22 which are connected by pipes 24 to the interior ofhollow arm 26. The hollow interior of each arm 26 is connected by aflexible, preferably rubber or synthetic resin, line 28 which in turn isconnected to a conduit 30 which communicates with the interior of amanifold 32. A line 34 (see FIGURE 5) connects manifold 32 to a valve 36which in turn is connected by a line 38 to a vacuum pump 40 driven by anelectric motor indicated at 42. Valve 36 permits vacuum line 38 toeither be connected to line 34 or to the atmosphere through port 44.

As best seen in FIGURE 5, arms 26 are mounted for vertical oscillationon members in each case by being ice fixedly connected to a pin 52mounted for rotation in a pair of adjacent members 50. Shaft 54 isconnected fixedly to the adjacent pin 52 which passes through the member50 adjacent shaft 54. As best seen in FIGURES 5 and 8, shaft 54 isfixedly secured to a lever 56 which carries a cam follower roller 58which in turn engages a cam 62. Valve operating lever 64 is pivotallyconnected at 66 to lever 56 at one end and has its other end pivotallyconnected to valves 36 for the operation thereof.

Cam 62 is fixedly secured to shaft 68 which is mounted in a bearingindicated at 70 and as best seen in FIG- URES 5 and 8 is fixedly held bya collar 72 secured to plate 74 which frictionally engages plate 76 of aconventional friction clutch 78. Plate 76 is fixedly secured to rotatewith sprocket 80 which in turn is secured to a stub shaft 82 rotatablymounted in bearing member 84.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, sprocket 80 is driven by a chain 86 whichpasses over an idler roller 88 and in turn is driven by a sprocket 90secured to shaft 92. Shaft 92 is driven by a speed reducer indicated 94which in turn is driven by an electric motor indicated at 96. Sprocket80 is driven counterclockwise as viewed in FIG- URE 1 which results inthe counterclockwise rotation of plate 76 which slips relative to plate74 which is held against rotation by virtue of horizontal pin 102secured to plate 74 and adapted to engage shoulder 104 of stop member106 (see FIGURE 7). Stop member 106 has a horizontal lower leg 108(FIGURE 7) which rides in a groove 110 in a block 112 secured to frame4. A plate 114 overlies leg 108 to hold it in groove 110. A pin 116secured to stop member 106 projects through a slot 118 in block 112 andis connectedto one end of an extension spring 120, the other end ofwhich is connected to a pin 122 secured to block 112. The upper end ofstop member 106 is secured to lever 124.

A ramrod 126 is connected in a conventional manner to a ram cylinderindicated at 128 (FIGURE 1). One end of ram cylinder 128 is connected bya line 130 to a valve 132, the other end of ram cylinder 128 beingconnected to valve 132 by a line 134. Valve 132 is supplied with air bya line 136 and has an exhaust port 137. Valve 132 is a solenoid valveand is connected to ground by a line 138 (see' FIGURE 5) and isconnected to a suitable power line by a line 140 which contains anormally open microswitch 142 which has an operating lever 144 whichextends above support 6 at the left-hand end as viewed in FIGURES 1 and5 and also contains a normally open switch 146. A switch operating plate148 is adapted to engage and close switch 146 when arms 26 are in theirlowermost positions, plate 148 being supported by arms 150 which aresecured to arms 26 as best seen in FIG- URES 1 and 8. One of arms 150carries a pin 151 to which one end of extension spring 153 is secured,the other end being secured to frame 4. Spring 153 urges the arms 26upwardly.

Ramrod 126 is secured to an end member 152 which carries a finger 154(FIGURES 1 and 5) which is adapted to engage the upper inner end oflever 124 as ramrod 126 is pulled into ram cylinder 128. A rod 156extending above ramrod 126 is carried by end member 152 and forms partof the apparatus which advances the blank 18 removed from magazine 8along the path formed by support 6. A block 158 (FIGURE 10) rides belowsupport 6 and is fixedly secured to a bracket 160 which is secured torod 156 to travel therewith. An L-shaped lever 162 is pivotally securedat 164 to block 158 and has one end which passes upwardly through a slot166 in support 6 to carry a slanting lever 168 provided with adownwardly extending pin 170 which is threadably secured to lever 168for adjustment. The other end of lever 162 is provided with a camfollower roller 172 which is adapted to engage cam 174 secured belowsupport 6. An extension spring 176 has one end secured to lever 162 andthe other end secured to a pin 178 which is secured to a bracket 180attached to rod 156. Spring 176 acts to bias lever 162 so as to rotateclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 10 about the pivot point at 164. Block 158carries a jaw member 181 opposite pin 178.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a rotatable hold-down roller 184 is spaced abovesupport 6 and rotatably secured to a slide member 186 provided with aslot 188 through which bolts 190 pass to secure it to a bracket 192.Bracket 192 is fixedly secured to frame 10 of magazine 8 by means of asupport member 194.

A roller 200 carries a printing plate 202 (FIGURE 2) and is in rollingcontact with a transfer roller 204 which in turn is in rolling contactwith an ink reservoir roller 206. An extension of spring 208 is securedto a pin 210 on roller 200 at one end and has its other end secured at212. Spring 208 acts to center up to its zero position roller 200 afterit has turned 360 more or less. All of these rollers are rotatablymounted on a plate indicated at 214. A driven backup roller 216 extendsupwardly through an opening 217 in support 6 and is fixedly secured to ashaft 218 which is mounted for rotation in bearings 220, 220 (FIGURE 5).A sprocket 222 secured to shaft 218 is driven by a chain 224 which inturn is driven by a sprocket 226 secured to shaft 92.

Operation In operation, the parts will normally be initially in theposition shown in FIGURE 1 with switches 142 and 146 being closed sothat when power line 140 is energized, solenoid valve 132 will bepositioned so as to cause ramrod 126 to be retracted which will resultin drawing finger 154 into contact with stop member 106 so as to slideit against the force of spring 120 away from pin 102. Since motor 96,speed reducer 94 and shaft 92 are causing chain 86 through sprocket 80to rotate shaft 82 and hence plate 76 of slip clutch 78, the release ofstop member from pin 102 will cause the rotation of clutch plate '74 dueto its frictional engagement by plate 76 and the consequent rotation ofshaft 68 and cam 62. As cam follower 58 moves towards the low point ofcam 62, extension spring 153 elevates arms 26 until suction cups 22 arein contact with the lowermost blank 18 in magazine 8. Prior to contactof suction cups 22 with the blank 18, arm 56 has rotatedcounterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 6 sufiiciently to cause lever 64 toshift valve 36 to change the connection of line 34 from port 44 to line38, thus connecting suction cups 22 to vacuum pump 40.

As soon as arms 26 commence to elevate, plate 148 moves away from switch146 permitting it to open and causing solenoid valve 132 to bedeenergized and to thus reverse the direction of movement of ramrod 126to cause the ramrod to return to its original extended position.

The continued rotation of cam 62 causes the lowering of arms 26 againstthe force exerted by spring 153 causing the lowermost blank to bewithdrawn from its engagement by stripper pins 14 and the blank to belowered down to a position where it lies on support 6. Just as the blankreaches support 6 lever 56 actuates lever 64 to reconnect line 34 toport 44 which leads to the atmosphere thus breaking the suctionconnection between cups 22 and blank 18. When arms 26 reach theirlowermost position, switch 146 will again be closed by plate 148 and ifthere is no blank overlying lever 144 of switch 142 to open this switch,solenoid valve 132 will be energized to cause ramrod 126 to beretracted. Gripper lever 168 will be advanced to overlie blank 18 onsupport 6 and shortly thereafter urged downwardly so that pin 170 willengage the blank and urge it against jaw member 181 due to theengagement of cam follower roller 172 with 4 cam 174 as the cam followerroller 172 moves from right to left as viewed in FIGURES l and 10.

The blank 18 on support 6 will then be moved under hold-down roller 184to be urged between roller 200 and 216 where the counterclockwiserotation of roller 216 as viewed in FIGURE 1 will remove the blank 18from its position between pin 170 and jaw member 181 and urge it ontothe left-hand end of support 6 in a position overlying lever 144 to movethis lever downwardly and open switch 142. As blank 18 passes underroller 200 in rolling contact therewith, the ink printing plate 202 willbe forced into contact with the upper surface of the blank to transferthe desired printing thereon. After the blank has moved beyond contactwith roller 200, it will be centered up by means of spring 208, theroller in the printing operation generally travelling 360 but tending toovertravel. Here again, as ramrod 126 is retracting, finger 154 willcome into contact with lever 124 causing stop member 106 to release pin102 to cause the elevation of arms 26 for the pick-up of another blankwhich will be lowered to support 6 in the manner previously described.Ramrod 126 will not be retracted again to cause the second blank to beprinted until the first blank overlying switch lever 144 has beenremoved.

What is claimed is:

1. Printing apparatus comprising a stationary support forming a path fora blank to be printed, a magazine for blanks to be printed positionedabove said support, said magazine having an open bottom with means toengage the lowermost blank about its edges, oscillatable means includingat least one suction head, said oscillatable means being hinged formovement between engagement of the bottom blank in said magazine by saidsuction head and the transfer of the blank thus engaged to said support,a printing roller and an opposed roller in said path, reciprocable meansto engage on its advancing stroke a blank on said support to advancesaid blank into engagement by said rollers, means for oscillating saidoscillatable means, suction means, a valve, said suction head connectedalternately to said suction means and to the atmosphere upon operationof said valve, said means for oscillating said oscillatable meansincluding means for the operation of said valve to connect said suctionhead to said suction means to provide suction to said suction head uponits engagement with said bottom blank and to connect said suction headto the atmosphere upon transfer of said blank to said support, means forimmobilizing said means for oscillating said oscillatable means upontransfer of said blank to said support, means for reciprocating saidreciprocable means, control means for controlling said means forreciprocating said reciprocable means to effect the advancing stroke ofsaid reciprocable means upon transfer of said blank to said support,means for deimmobilizing said means for oscillating said oscillatablemeans actuated by said reciprocable means, said control means effectingthe return stroke of said reciprocable means prior to the transfer ofthe next succeeding blank to said support, and means to rotate at leastone of said rollers.

2. Printing apparatus comprising a stationary support forming a path foran object to be printed, a magazine for sheets to be printed positionedabove said support and having an open bottom and means to support theedges of the bottom sheet in the magazine, oscillatable means includingat least one suction head to engage the bottom sheet in the magazine andtransfer it to said support, a printing roller and an opposed pressureroller in said path, reciprocable means to engage the sheet on thesupport and advance it into engagement between said rollers, means tooperate said oscillatable means and said re ciprocable means torepeatedly and successively remove a sheet from the magazine andtransfer it to said support and therefore to advance it to between saidrollers, said last mentioned means including means to return saidreciprocable means to its original position after the advancement ofeach said sheet, and means to rotate at least one of said rollers toadvance the sheet therethrough and print it, said means to operate theoscillatable means comprising a cam follower secured to the oscillatablemeans, a movable cam, a spring urging the oscillatable means in adirection to keep the cam follower in contact with the cam, a shaftconnected to said cam, a slip clutch connected to said shaft, saidclutch having a rotatable member for connection to a power source and asecond rotatable member in frictional engagement with said firstmentioned clutch member and fixed to said shaft, stop means to arrestsaid shaft, said stop means beirfi comprised of a stop member rotatablewith said shaft and a non-rotatable reciprocable member resilientlyurged into the path of said first mentioned stop member to preventrotation of said shaft, and an actuating member attached to thereciprocable means for moving said reciprocable member of said stopmeans out of the path of said first mentioned stop member upon advancemovement of said reciprocable means to permit rotation of said shaft,said reciprocable member of said stop means returning to its originalposition upon the return of said reciprocable means to its originalposition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,577,084 12/1951Laxo 27154 2,598,150 5/1952 Wethe et al. 271-44 2,663,253 12/1953Sauerman et a1. 271--14 X 2,703,526 3/1955 Hansson 101-232 2,787,2144/4957 Halahan et a1 101232 2,929,318 3/1960 Pannier 10l-245 X 3,021,7662/ 1962 Mossor 271-14 X 3,053,529 9/1962 Dunn 271--29 X ROBERT E.PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

20 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Examiner.

1. PRINTING APPARATUS COMPRISING A STATIONARY SUPPORT FORMING A PATH FORA BLANK TO BE PRINTED, A MAGAZINE FOR BLANKS TO BE PRINTED POSITIONEDABOVE SAID SUPPORT, SAID MAGAZINE HAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM WITH MEANS TOENGAGE THE LOWERMOST BLANK ABOUT ITS EDGES, OSCILLATABLE MEANS INCLUDINGAT LEAST ONE SUCTION HEAD, SAID OSCILLATABLE MEANS BEING HINGED FORMOVEMENT BETWEEN ENGAGEMENT OF THE BOTTOM BLANK IN SAID MAGAZINE BY SAIDSECTION HEAD AND THE TRANSFER OF THE BLANK THUS ENGAGED TO SAID SUPPORT,A PRINTING ROLLER AND AN OPPOSED ROLLER IN SAID PATH, RECIPROCABLE MEANSTO ENGAGE ON ITS ADVANCING STROKE A BLANK ON SAID SUPPORT TO ADVANCESAID BLANK INTO ENGAGEMENT BY SAID ROLLERS, MEANS FOR OSCILLATING SAIDOSCILLATABLE MEANS, SUCTION MEANS, A VALVE, SAID SUCTION HEAD CONNECTEDALTERNATELY TO SAID SUCTION MEANS AND TO THE ATMOSPHERE UPON OPERATIONOF SAID VALVE, SAID MEANS FOR OSCILLATING SAID OSCILLATABLE MEANSINCLUDING MEANS FOR THE OPERATION OF SAID VALVE TO CONNECT SAID SUCTIONHEAD TO SAID SUCTION MEANS TO PROVIDE SUCTION TO SAID SUCTION HEAD UPONITS ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BOTTOM BLANK AND TO CONNECT SAID SUCTION HEADTO THE ATMOSPHERE UPON TRANSFER OF SAID BLANK TO SAID SUPPORT, MEANS FORIMMOBILIZING SAID MEANS FOR OSCILLATING SAID OSCILLATABLE MEANS UPONTRANSFER OF SAID BLANK TO SAID SUPPORT, MEANS FOR RECIRPOCATING SAIDRECIPROCABLE MEANS, CONTROL MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAID MEANS FORRECIPROCATING SAID RECIPROCABLE MEANS TO EFFECT THE ADVANCING STROKE OFSAID RECIPROCABLE MEANS UPON TRANSFER OF SAID BLANK TO SAID SUPPORT,MEANS FOR DEIMMOBILIZING SAID MEANS FOR OSCILLATING SAID OSCILLATABLEMEANS ACTUATED BY SAID RECIPROCABLE MEANS, SAID CONTROL MEANS EFFECTINGTHE RETURN STROKE OF SAID RECIPROCABLE MEANS EFFECTING THE RETURN STROKENEXT SUCCEEDING BLANK TO SAID SUPPORT, AND MEANS TO ROTATE AT LEAST ONEOF SAID ROLLERS.